Cruelty
by Mitsuki Tanji
Summary: Did you know that sometimes the worst choice you've ever made, can have an outcome you'd never want to lose? -- Pairs: Golden Pair, MomoRyo, TezuFuji, InuKai, and some OCOC. IN PROGRESS


Cruelty. That's all there was to it.

Some boys at school always teased him, and occasionally even hit him like real bullies always did. Today just happened to be one of those days. He'd had to climb out of a dumpster after being thrown inside. Now he smelled, and looked, absolutely horrible.

Susumu sighed as he trudged up the walk towards the apartment he and his father called home. Fortunately his father was working late tonight and he could jump in the shower before seeing him. Of course if he had the choice he'd rather his father be home.

His father was a doctor and hardly ever came home on time for dinner. And when he did happen to make it home he was usually so completely exhausted that he couldn't really do anything with his son. Susumu had learned to play with the cards laid on his table, and not yearn for the ones in his neighbor's hands. After all... at least he had a father, right?

His mother died when he was really little, and he could barely remember her at all. He couldn't remember what she looked like no matter how hard he tried. Sure, he had photos but they weren't the same. Not really. When it all came down to it there was only one thing he could truly remember about his mother. And that was laughter. A rich and warm laugh that seemed to have embraced him as an infant. Sometimes that remembrance was the only thing that kept him from crying in front of his so-called "friends."

"Ah, Susumu!" An old woman's voice called out from behind him and he turned around, smiling softly.

"Hello, Mrs. Connolly How are you?" He was always polite. Maybe that was why the other kids liked to pick on him. But even if he did want to stop being nice, it was just natural for him. He couldn't just be rid of a personality trait.

"Oh. I'm all right. You're such a nice young man. Always so kind. Would you like a cookie? They're fresh from the oven." She looked so hopeful. Susumu would never have been able to say no. He suspected she got lonely sometimes... Her husband had died before he'd been born but he'd known Mrs. Connolly since before he could remember. She treated him like her own grandson. It was sad that she didn't have any of her own...

"I'd love one! I'll come right over, all right? I want to put my stuff away." And taking a quick shower wouldn't be minded either.

"Yes, yes. Do hurry. Or Skimpy might eat them all!" She chuckled as she turned to go back into her own apartment door, followed by a black and brown wiener dog, which happened to be named Skimp.

He unlocked the door of his own house and let his back pack just flop to the floor as he shut the door behind him and ran for the bathroom. Within two minutes he jumped out of the shower and started to pull on some clean clothes.

Not bothering to slip his shoes back on he ran over to Mrs. Connolly's apartment door and knocked twice.

"Oh! Susumu! How wonderful! Well, come on, come on." She led him inside. He loved this house. It seemed so homey. He loved the feel he got from it. It was a good thing he liked Mrs. Connolly too sense she was often the one put in charge of him if his father had a business trip that would be over-night. Or anything like that really.

The kitchen had drawings in frames on the walls and even some school papers on the fridge. They were all his. He liked that she liked him enough to put his absolutely horrible- he wasn't the greatest at drawing- pictures on the walls.

"Well, eat then!" He took a cookie off of the plate she was holding and bit into it, preparing to be woozy. Her cookies- chocolate ship especially- were absolutely delicious.

"They're wonderful!" And he demonstrated this by eating the rest of the cookie in his hand.

"Oh, good. I'm working on a new recipe to try for the festival coming up." The Crescent Festival. It was held just for children and old folks of the town and was actually really fun for everyone. Mostly because you got to play games, and eat homemade cookies.

"You'll win first place." To Susumu, she always did.

"You're so sweet. But your father should be home soon, shouldn't he?"

"He should be, yes."

"Better go make a yummy looking meal then, eh?" Susumu looked up at her and grinned.

"Of course. Bye, Mrs. Connolly." He walked out of her apartment smiling as she gave Skimp a cookie.

Susumu slowly wrapped up the leftovers and put them in the microwave, and cleaned up his own dirty dishes. His father was still at the hospital, probably saving someone's life. It was okay. Someone's life was much more important than eating dinner with his dad.

He walked up stairs and went into his room, falling down on top of the beds covers, still fully clothed. It was a very silent whisper, when he fell asleep muttering the words he should have heard, but hadn't.

"Happy birthday... Susumu."


End file.
